A Day at Robben Island

The kids' homework before we left for South Africa was to read "Who Was Nelson Mandela?" I read it, too, and ashamedly, I didn't know Mandela's full story before that book. We also checked out a book on apartheid from the library. But sometimes, history doesn't make itself fully apparent until you literally step back into it.

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On Wednesday, we were back to Jason Bakery for breakfast -- with our same waitress, who seemed quite amused to see us again so soon. After breakfast, we walked through beautiful Green Point Park and along the Sea Point Promenade to return to the V&A Waterfront. We were headed for the Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island, a glass museum that links the V&A with the Robben Island Museum on the island itself.

We stood in line for about 45 minutes before boarding the ferry to Robben Island. There were probably 300 people in line with us. The ferry ride took 40 minutes and yours truly got seasick. I'll be taking Dramamine from here on out; the older I get, the more seasick I get.

Once we landed on Robben Island, we boarded buses for a driving tour. Our guide spoke isiXhosa, a language indigenous to South Africa. Xhosa is a tonal language that uses click consonants, and our guide tried getting us to repeat certain words after her. We failed miserably -- none of us could get the click sound going.

On Robben Island, with Table Mountain in the background.

During the bus tour, we saw the leper graveyard, because in its early days, Robben Island was a leper colony; the village, where all of the prison guards and their families lived; the quarry, where the prisoners were made to work (but it was just busy work, simply to tire the prisoners out); and Robert Sobukwe's house. 

Sobukwe was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and founding member of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), serving as the first president of the organization. On March 21, 1960, the PAC led a nationwide protest against the pass laws which required Black people to carry a pass book at all times. Sobukwe led a march to the local police station at Orlando, Soweto, in order to openly defy the laws. He presented his pass to a police officer and purposely made himself guilty under the terms of the pass law of being present in a region other than that allowed as per his papers. In a similar protest on the same day in Sharpeville, police opened fire on a crowd of PAC supporters, killing 69 in the Sharpeville Massacre. Afterwards, Sobukwe was taken without a fair trial and both the ANC and PAC were banned.

Sobukwe was sentenced to three years in prison. When his term came up for expiration, the government introduced a clause in their General Law Amendment Act whereby political dissidents could be indefinitely detained. This clause became known as the "Sobukwe Clause." Sobukwe was moved to Robben Island, where he lived in solitary confinement in a small house built just for him. At all times, there were two guards in front of the house, two in the back, and two in the house with him. 

Sobukwe's health began to deteriorate in 1969, so the government allowed him to return home to his family (because they didn't want him to die on Robben Island), but under house arrest. He lived under house arrest for the rest of his life, dying in 1978 from lung cancer. Sobukwe is considered a key historical figure in South Africa's Black liberation struggle.

The bus dropped us off by the front of the prison. We walked to a nearby grassy area where we met our next guide, an ex-political prisoner at Robben Island. He spent 18 years on Robben Island; he was arrested for carrying a firearm during a protest in the 1970s. 

Following our ex-political prisoner guide into the prison.

An image of political prisoners returning to Cape Town upon their release from Robben Island.

Our guide toured us through the prison and talked about the harsh conditions he experienced while there. Every meal was the same -- breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Prisoners weren't given sufficient clothing and they slept on thin mats on cement floors (no blankets). They were tortured, physically and psychologically. The prisoners weren't allowed hot showers until 1973. The letters they received were censored. Robben Island was brutal. And all of the prisoners were political prisoners.

Our guide talks to us about his experience at Robben Island.

Walking through the prison hallways.

One of the rooms where the men slept -- this is once they got bunk beds. Previously, the men had to sleep on thin mats on the cement floor.

Our guide shared that the political prisoners, despite the brutal conditions, still found a way to talk politics and write political documents, which were smuggled outside. Nelson Mandela wrote his autobiography, A Long Walk to Freedom, while at Robben Island. This document was smuggled out as well.

Nelson Mandela's cell.

Top photo: Prisoner menu. Bottom photo: Prisoner identification card.

Robben Island closed in 1996, became a museum in 1997, and was declared a World Heritage site in 1999. 

The visit to Robben Island will stay with us forever. I felt such a contradiction while we were there. On one hand, it's this beautiful island with incredible views of Cape Town and Table Mountain. On the other hand, it's this awful, horrific prison where thousands of political prisoners were kept in inhumane conditions. 

Our visit was a powerful history lesson. Tim is currently listening to A Long Walk to Freedom on Audible. And that book is next on my reading list!

Outside the prison.

Leaving the prison.